REUTERS/Joshua Lott
Though prosecutors dropped the case against John Edwards after his trial for campaign finance fraud ended in mistrial and a deadlocked jury, it doesn’t mean the former presidential hopeful is home free. He’s still widely considered one of the most disliked politicians in the country, and that reputation may not improve for some time thanks to a new tell-all memoir by his former mistress Rielle Hunter.
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Hunter spares few details of her affair with the then-married Senator in What Really Happened, due out June 26.
The videographer, with whom Edwards fathered a 4-year-old daughter, Quinn, claims that she was not Edwards’ first mistress–but also that he fabricated many details of his former affairs.
Though he initially told her he had three other mistresses in Chicago, Los Angeles and Florida, he admitted last year to Hunter that he had made them up entirely so that she wouldn’t get too attached.
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He also said he used the same tactic with two women he had actually been involved with, for the same reason.
Ultimately, Edwards led Hunter to believe she was his only lover. She states in the book that she still has feelings for him, but does not know where their relationship will end up. When Edwards told her he could end up in a Virginia prison if found guilty, the Associated Press reports, she quickly said that she and their daughter would move to Virginia to be near him.
Affairs aside, Hunter praises Edwards’ parenting skills, writing that “”He is a great dad to [Quinn] when he is with her.”
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